U.S. households: Only 45% of lost wealth recovered

(CBC) American households have recovered only 45 per cent of the wealth they lost since the onset of the economic downturn in 2007, a new report released Thursday by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis says.

The bank is one of 12 regional banks that together with the board of governors in Washington, D.C., make up the U.S. Federal Reserve central banking system.

In its annual report for 2012, titled After the Fall, the bank takes stock of the damage the financial crisis caused to American households and examines how they are faring today.

At the height of the financial crisis, Americans had a record-high debt-to-income ratio of 133 per cent and the lowest personal savings rate since the Great Depression. Between 2007 and 2010, average household wealth declined 15 per cent while median household wealth dropped 39 per cent, the report says.